Support the School for Hearing Impaired Students

 A school for the deaf and hard of hearing was created in Sokodé in 2006 under the name VIVENDA. It had 15 deaf and hard of hearing children including 7 girls and 8 boys and only one (1) teacher.

The school was entirely funded by the financial contribution of parents and certain NGOs such as "CAMPAIGN OF MEN" based in Kpalimé.

Due to lack of funding, VIVENDA School was closed during the 2019-2020 school year.

After the closure, deaf and hard of hearing children who attended the school found themselves at home, without any support from the education system. This further complicated the lives of parents and children.

This is how a woman from Sokodé, a seamstress by profession, offered to take charge of the schooling of these children in need, whose numbers are growing. The Sokodé School for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children, under the name KAMADAR (ESMK-Sokodé), was therefore created in the 2020-2021 school year.

Using her own funds, this lady then rented a 6-bedroom house with a courtyard and a playground to accommodate ESMK-Sokodé. She called on the teacher from the old VIVENDA school to teach the students.

Aware of the financial difficulties of parents in general and those of deaf and hard of hearing children in particular, taking into account the wish of almost all of these parents to see their children educated and trained in a specialized school, ESMK-Sokodé has chosen not to ask for any contribution from parents already affected, in order to encourage the registration of their children. School uniforms, supplies and snacks are fully covered by the school.

Presented to the administrative, religious and customary authorities of the central region, as well as to the population through communications and meetings, the initiative to open ESMK-Sokodé was welcomed and congratulated by all stakeholders, as the need for such a school is real.

ESMK-Sokodé, the only private specialist school that supports the education of deaf and hard of hearing children, aims to become a reference school that could one day benefit from the support of the Togolese State through the assignment of specialist teachers.

It was in the search for solution approaches that the promoter of this school met the NGO CAV to request the support of these financial partners.

This project therefore falls within the framework of result 3 of the 2021 - 2025 strategic plan of the NGO CAV, entitled: "The education of young girls in rural areas and the fight against child trafficking in general and children with disabilities in particular are improved by the end of 2025".

Since 2023, with the financial support of the various partners through GlobalGiving, a leading organization for fundraising, several actions have been carried out. These include:

-          Recruitment and training of two (2) additional teachers;

-          Coverage of salaries of three (3) teachers, the Director and other support staff;

-          Acquisition of teaching materials and consumables (tables, chairs, tables-benches, cupboard, chalks and specialized tools for the hearing impaired), etc.;

-          Acquisition of three (3) children’s play modules;

-          Financial support for classroom rental costs, water and electricity bills throughout the school year.

The fundraising between 2023 and March 2024, allowed the founder to acquire a plot of land with an area of 2 ares and 25 centiares for a school construction project. The 5^th presentationlast June mentioned this partial purchased.

Now, as part of the implementation of this project "Supporting the school for hearing-impaired students" in the prefecture of Tchaoudjo, the NGO CAV has not been able to mobilize another grant since the last report presented in June 2024

Done in Sokode, November 14, 2024.

• REPORT (PDF)